With consideration given to the pandemic, the physical graduation ceremony for the 2021 Academic Year was cancelled. In lieu of this, at 9:30 a.m. on June 18, a pre-recorded graduation video was broadcast on a graduation ceremony website. This year, a total of 20 doctoral students, 374 master students, and 2,015 four-year bachelor’s students graduated from the university’s colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, Management, Humanities and Social Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and International Cooperation. There were also an addition 105 in-service master students and 375 bachelor’s students who received diplomas this year, for a total of 2,889 graduates.
In the video, NPUST President Chang-Hsien Tai delivered a speech in which he made use of the “black swan effect” and “grey rhino effect” to describe the Covid situation. He also referred to the “butterfly effect” in relation to the Russian-Ukrainian war which has shaken the whole world this year— pointing out that it will cause a food crises “unseen since World War II”. President Tai ended his speech by singing the song “The Impossible Dream” for the graduates, with hopes that the they would pursue every dream on life’s journey with “courage”, “persistence”, and “childish enthusiasm”.
In the video the doctoral, masters, and undergrad diplomas and senior university graduation certificates were display. Awards for academic excellence, conduct, postgraduate research achievements, sports excellence and other categories were also announced.
In this year’s graduation video, Professor Daisy L. Hung from National Central University was specially invited to record a speech to encourage the graduates. In her speech, she pointed out that achievements in life depend on “connections”, “wisdom” and “ability to execute”. With respect to “connections”, she emphasized “integrity first”. She also explained that when it comes to using “wisdom” to make decisions, “attitudes determine behavior, behavior determines success or failure, and our minds determines our attitudes”. She encouraged the graduates to change their mentality when they encounter difficulties, so that they could change their lives. When it comes to “execution”, Prof. Hung explained that when taking action, it is important to be “dedicated”, “professional” and “positive”. Hong also shared on successful communication, explaining that it requires looking at things from the points of view of others. Overall, the speech encouraged students to make good use of life and do what they enjoy—this way, they will be able to live lives that are meaningful.
This year, Tzu-Hsuan Chen, the class representative from the Department of Social Work, gave a graduation speech. In her speech, Chen said that “the college journey was like creating a “picture” that belongs to one’s self. Over four years of college life, from classrooms to social clubs, from associations to part-time jobs—so many experiences allowed us to gain better understandings of ourselves and future careers. And we are very grateful for the sincere way in which our teachers taught us over this time, and the care and encouragement we received from our parents and families –and for the companionship of our classmates and friends. I hope that every graduate will be able to apply wisdom, to make wise and decisive choices to achieve the most satisfying life for him or herself. And during this epidemic, I hope that the masks will not cover up the gentle and shining features of every graduating student”.
At the end of the video, photos of school activities and class life from the years spent at university were shown, allowing the graduates to reminisce about their times on campus as they prepare to start a new journey in life.
